Intelligent Schools Project - Fundación El Sueño Zapoteco

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Intelligent Schools Project - Fundación El Sueño Zapoteco
Intelligent Schools Project

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Intelligent Schools Project - Fundación El Sueño Zapoteco
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Intelligent Schools Project - Fundación El Sueño Zapoteco
Introduc,on

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Intelligent Schools Project - Fundación El Sueño Zapoteco
The Intelligent Schools project aims to transform the
 educa8on of children in isolated rural communi8es
 through the introduc8on of technology

— The project will bring technology-enabled educa,onal resources to over 700 students
  in 52 rural (indigenous) schools across a 400-square mile area of southern Oaxaca state
  in Mexico

— The Founda,on is building a wireless internet signal transmission infrastructure that
  will reach 90% of these schools. Schools not reachable by internet signal will be
  provided extensive off-line resources through con,nuously updated iPad tablets

— Due to their isola,on, 99% of these students have either never experienced the
  internet or have extremely limited exposure

— We have built a dedicated team of experts that is working on developing an innova,ve
  technology-based curriculum aimed at narrowing the widening gap between rural and
  public schools

— Our project is already well underway and we would welcome your support!

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Intelligent Schools Project - Fundación El Sueño Zapoteco
This project is the most ambi8ous in the ten-year
    history of the Founda8on
             2008                                                                 2019-2022
• Bacaanda starts as a private                                          • Launching the Intelligent
  family founda8on to support                                             Schools project, targe8ng 54
  disadvantaged communi8es in                                             schools with over 700 students
  the Huatulco area                                                     • Building 3-5 schools per year
• Soon therea[er Bacaanda is                                            • Expanding voca8onal training
  registered as a non-profit in                                            programs for CONAFE grads
  the US and Mexico and formal                                          • Obtaining status as a
  fundraising efforts begin                                                registered non-profit in     5
                                                                          Canada

          2009-2012                           2013-2016                           2017-2018
• Opens dental clinics to service   • Forms an alliance with            • Moves the founda8on to
  240 children                        CONAFE to support the               larger offices, workshop and
• Establishes a terraced fruit        improvement of the rural            showroom in Tangolunda
  planta8on with irriga8on            schools it operates               • With the help of many
• Forms sports teams and            • Establishes a new facility to       benefactors, builds or
  rehabs sports facili8es             train the CONAFE teachers           renovates xxx schools, xxx
• Creates a workshop for            • Builds the Derramadero              teachers quarters, xxx sports
  voca8onal training of ar8sans       school, the first of ten schools     facili8es, xxx communal     5
• Conducts dozens of events           built during this period            kitchens, xxx computer labs
Intelligent Schools Project - Fundación El Sueño Zapoteco
How it Works

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Intelligent Schools Project - Fundación El Sueño Zapoteco
The internet signal starts with a transmission infrastructure
based at Ins8tuto Mexico, our project partner, that forwards
a DSL signal from TelMex to Fonatur’s Arrocito tower

                 Step 1: Transmission Infrastructure

                            Site of the 6-
  Six 10MB
                                meter
DSL feeds, to
                             origina8on
be expanded
                             tower and
to fiber op8c
                             the project
    once
                               control                 30-meter
  available
                                center                  Fonatur
                                                         tower 7
Intelligent Schools Project - Fundación El Sueño Zapoteco
From the Fonatur tower the signal is distributed by line of
sight using point-to-point and mul8-point MikroTik
antennas to schools or to addi8onal intermediary antennas
                         Step 2: Distribu,on Infrastructure

                                                               Cerro
                                    San Miguel                Machete
                                    del Puerto

 Santa Maria
  Huatulco                                                        Pluma Hidalgo

        Point-to-point
                                                                                  8
        Mul8-point                   Fonatur
Intelligent Schools Project - Fundación El Sueño Zapoteco
The signal is captured at each school by a roo[op antenna
that feeds a wifi hub. The internet will be accessed through
a Smart TV and iPad tablets, depending on educa8onal goals

                 Step 3: Recep,on Infrastructure

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Intelligent Schools Project - Fundación El Sueño Zapoteco
Who Will Benefit

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The first four phases of the project will ini8ally benefit over
700 students

                     Phase 1                                           Phase 2
              San Miguel del Puerto                                 Pluma Hidalgo
   •   130 students in 15 elementary schools         •   126 students in 12 elementary schools
   •   70 students in 7 middle (secondary) schools   •   23 students in 1 middle (secondary) school
   •   48 students in preschool                      •   45 students in preschool
   •   Main communi8es include Granadillo, Llano     •   Main communi8es include Tres de Mayo, El
       Grande, Copalita La Hamaca, El Tamarindo,         Manan8al, Barrio Nuevo Cimarrón, San Jose
       Llano Jicara, Llano Palacio, Santa Catarina       Palo Grande and El Rosario
       Jamixtepec and La Blas Xadani

                     Phase 3                                           Phase 4
              Santa Maria Huatulco                               San Pedro Pochutla
   •   137 students in 13 elementary schools
   •   8 students in 1 middle (secondary) school     •   32 students in 3 elementary schools
   •   88 students in preschool                      •   25 students in 2 middle (secondary) schools
   •   Possible connec8on to CONAFE                  •   12 students in preschool
   •   Main communi8es include Derramadero,          •   Main communi8es include El Paraiso,
       Agua Hedionda, La Jabalina, Puente Todos          Cuajinicuil Alto and Unión de Guerrero
       Santos, Chacalmata and Arroyo Limón

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These ini8al benefits will cover the majority of the 80 rural schools in
the region

                                                                 1

                                    4

        2

                3                                                    12
There will be several addi8onal benefits as the network is
established
                                  Addi8onal benefits
• While the primary focus of the intelligent classroom will ini,ally be on elementary and
  middle school students, there are an addi,onal 200+ preschool students in these
  communi,es that will benefit as well – we are ac,vely studying op,ons for how to
  incorporate technology into the preschool curriculum
• There are hundreds of middle school students that do not go on to high school because
  of cost and distance to travel. There are already well established online programs in
  place – we just need to equip these students with the necessary hardware and support
  them along the way
• It is currently very difficult for CONAFE to recruit strong qualified teachers due to the
  challenges of living in isolated communi,es. An internet enabled network will provide
  CONAFE’s over 100 teachers a significant improvement in quality of life and the chance
  to belong to an online community of educators that can share best prac,ces and
  support each other in mul,ple ways
• As technology con,nues to develop and our network grows, we expect to be able to
  reach the final 20% of schools that do not form part of Phases 1-4
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Costs and Financial Projec,ons

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The total setup cost of the project will range from US$270,000
to US$300,000.
                           Phase 1      Phase 2    Phase 3      Phase 4
                           San Miguel   Pluma     Santa Maria   San Pedro
                           del Puerto   Hidalgo    Huatulco      Pochutla

     Transmission and
                            $20-22K     $20-22K    $18-20K      $12-14K
        distribu8on

    Signal recep8on at
                            $38-42K     $24-27K    $26-29K       $9-11K
         schools

   Smart TV, tablets and
                            $30-38K     $19-27K    $21-29K       $8-10K
       accessories

  Curriculum development
                            $8-10K       $3-4K      $2-3K        $1-2K
    and teacher training

          TOTAL            $96-112K     $71-85K    $67-81K      $30-37K

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The main cost drivers are school size, school clustering, local
topography and our cost to acquire tablets
                                      Cost Drivers
• Not surprisingly, schools with double digit student headcounts will be more cost
  efficient on a per student basis. Schools with very small (less than 5) student
  enrollment may be de-priori,zed
• Villages with mul,ple schools can enjoy economies of scale such as a common wifi
  setup and sharing of tablets
• Schools that enjoy clear sight connec,on to distribu,on antennas can be set up with
  standard equipment configura,on cos,ng approximately US$ 1,800. Schools whose
  sightlines are blocked by mountains or foliage will require more expensive solu,ons.
  In some cases cost effec,ve internet access may not be an op,on
• We are projec,ng the four school districts will require 280 iPads. For purposes of this
  analysis, we are assuming the following:
    • Our current vision is that each teacher will have an iPad and each 2.5 students will
       share one
    • 40% of all iPads will be used – cos,ng $50 for new covers and setup
    • 60% of all iPads will be new – at a total cost of $350
• 42-inch Smart TVs will be purchased locally at a cost of $375
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There will also be ongoing costs related to opera8on,
repairs and replacement of each project component. We
have modeled three scenarios

                              Op8mis8c    Base Case   Pessimis8c

  Useful life of antennas      9 years     8 years     7 years

  New antenna future cost      $1,400      $1,600      $1,800

  Useful life of used iPads   2.5 years    2 years    1.5 years

  Useful life of new iPads     5 years     4 years     3 years

  New iPad future cost          $200        $250        $300

  % of new iPads donated        75%         50%          25%

  Useful life of Smart TVs     7 years     6 years     5 years

  Smart TV future cost          $200        $250        $300

  % of Smart TVs donated        40%         25%          10%

  Network admin cost           $9,000     $12,000      $15,000
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Average annual ongoing costs range from $33,000 in the
op8mis8c to $44,000 in the pessimis8c scenario. Given the
pace of technology advancement, we are very op8mis8c
                       Projec,on of Annual Ongoing Costs (USD)
      $80,000

      $70,000
                       Startup
                       Phase                            Antenna
      $60,000                                         Replacements

      $50,000

      $40,000

      $30,000

      $20,000
                2019   2020     2021    2022   2023    2024    2025   2026   2027   2028   2029   2030

                              Startup      Op,mis,c           Base Case      Pessimis,c
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Furthermore, as more children study their way through the
schools, the total cost per student falls significantly on a
cumula8ve basis
                      Cumula8ve Number of Students Educated Through
                                   Intelligent Learning
                                                                                              2,135    2,309
                                                                            1,787    1,961
                                                          1,440    1,613
                                        1,092    1,266
                       558      744
  186       372

  2019      2020      2021     2022     2023     2024     2025     2026     2027     2028     2029     2030

                     Annual Project Cost per Student Educated (Base Case)
 $383.06

           $191.53
                     $127.69
                               $95.77
                                        $23.50   $20.27   $17.83   $17.61   $16.73   $34.52   $28.41   $22.03

  2019      2020      2021     2022     2023     2024     2025     2026     2027     2028     2029     2030

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Timing and Progress to Date

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Depending on our fundraising efforts, we expect to complete
the project within the next three years

        2019              2020             2021             2022

           Transmission and Distribu8on

      Schools Phase 1

                        Schools Phase 2

                                 Schools Phase 3

                                                   Schools Phase 4

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We are off to a great start!
— We have established a partnership with Ins,tuto Mexico, Huatulco’s premier private
  school. Ins,tuto Mexico is adjacent to Telmex, where our signal originates. It is also
  the site for our network control center

— Our phase 1 transmission infrastructure - allowing us to reach 200 students in 22
  schools - is 80% complete. We expect to add the final two repeater antennas within
  the next few months

— We have received dona,ons of 50 iPads - almost 20% of what we need for our four
  startup phases

— Our team of educators and IT experts is configuring the first genera,on of customized
  iPads for the internet project. The iPads will be equipped with both internet-enabled
  educa,onal resources and offline apps that can be used when the internet is down or
  in communi,es where the internet signal can’t reach

— Pilot tests have started at Los Olivos and Puente de Cuajinicuil - schools rela,vely close
  to the Huatulco area
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We have a great team in place!

     Ana Melo                Brim Jarnryd       Susanne Jarnryd             Erik Jarnryd
   Project Leader       Community Outreach     Project Oversight              Finance
 BA – Public Admin            President        BA - Bates College        BA - Bates College
PhD – Public Admin       El Sueño Zapoteco      M. Ed – Harvard           MBA – Harvard
University of Chiapas                          Educa8on School            Business School

Meny Hermida Lara       David Perez Alonso     Abigael Mar8nez           Alejandro Reyes
Curriculum Design        Teacher Training    Device Management         System Installa8on
   BA - Veracruz         Current CONAFE        BS - Info Systems      BS – Isthmus Tech Inst
M. Ed – IMD Oaxaca       Regional Trainer    University of Pochutla    Owner, LockHouse
                                               Former CONAFE
                                                                                       23
                                                     teacher
Get Involved!

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Get Involved!
— The founda,on has already invested $30,000 to launch Phase 1
— We are currently in the process of fundraising for the remaining funds
  required to complete the four start-up phases of the project
— Once we have secured this funding, we will look to build a fund to endow
  future opera,ng and maintenance costs
— To execute this project we will eventually require more than 300 iPads and
  more than 40 Smart TVs
— Dona,ons of new iPads (approx. cost $300) and gently used ones (must be
  filh genera,on or newer models with Lightning chargers) are most welcome!
— All dona,ons are tax deduc,ble in the United States, and soon will be in
  Canada
— Please contact us at (781) 799-5102 or bacaandafounda,on@hotmail.com
— THANK YOU!

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Here are some examples of ways you can help!

                             Equipment Sponsors
          $350                         $400                      $1,800
 Buys a brand new iPad        Buys a Smart TV with an    Buys a Mikro8k Antenna,
with 32GB of memory and       Apple TV programming      cabling and hub to connect
 a UZBL protec8ve cover         box and accessories       a school to the internet

                              School Adopters
         $4,300                       $9,500                     $12,000
Buys an antenna, a Smart       Buys all equipment for    Buys the equipment for
 TV and six iPads, enough         El Granadillo, our     the network monitoring
for a teacher and a school      largest mul8-school      center and pays for one
      of ten students         community (23 students)      year of monitoring

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Appendix:
Frequently Asked Ques,ons

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The Bacaanda Foundation’s Intelligent Schools Project - FAQs

What is the Bacaanda Foundation?
The Bacaanda Foundation is a non-profit organization whose focus is to empower disadvantaged rural communities in
southern Oaxaca through improvements to education. In the ten years since its inception, the Foundation has built 22 new
schools and overseen improvements to educational infrastructure in dozens of communities. The Foundation is legally
established in the United States as the Bacaanda Foundation and in Mexico as El Sueño Zapoteco AC. Certification in
Canada is expected soon.

What is the Intelligent Schools Project?
The Internet Project is an initiative to bring connectivity to rural schools within the state of Oaxaca. The signal, originating in
downtown Huatulco, will be delivered via a network of transmission towers.

What is CONAFE?
CONAFE - the national commission for the promotion of education – is a public entity charged with overseeing the
education of preschool, elementary and middle school children in primarily indigenous rural communities across the country.
The Bacaanda Foundation works hand-in-hand with CONAFE to service the schools in the CONAFE district around Santa
Maria Huatulco in southern Oaxaca. This is a 400 square mile area north of the city of Huatulco.

Shouldn’t the government be doing this instead of the Foundation?
The federal government has announced a program to bring internet to Mexico. However, because of limited financial
resources, if this project happens at all it will prioritize high density population pockets across the country. The rural
communities that we service are sparsely populated and topographically isolated. Even in the best scenario it would be many
years, if not decades, before some of the schools are wired. Meanwhile the educational gap between wired and unwired
schools will continue to widen. It is important to note that government entities such as Fonatur are supporting the project by
allowing us to tap their existing infrastructure such as transmission antennas
What role do the parents of the students play?
One of the the Foundation’s core beliefs since its inception is the need to work with the communities, and not for them.
Parents play a fundamental role in the planning and construction of every school, providing hundreds of hours of volunteer
labor and safeguarding the integrity of the finished product. This gives them pride, satisfaction and ownership of the
community improvements. This project will be no different. Dozens of parents have already been heavily involved helping us
install massive transmission antennas in remote locations. Their enthusiasm for this project is amazing, and a source of
inspiration to the Foundation staff.

How many schools will the project reach?
Over the course of four phases we expect to reach 64 schools. Phase One will consist of 22 schools in 16 communities, serving
248 students.

How have you chosen these schools?
The schools are all elementary and middle schools that form the local CONAFE (rural schools) district. The first schools will
be near San Miguel del Puerto. We chose these schools for their relative proximity to Huatulco and the large number of middle
schools within this district, as we believe middle schools will derive the most immediate benefit. We are launching a two-school
pilot program in the spring of 2019.

How much will it cost to connect schools?
The cost is variable, depending on the challenges to bring the signal to the community and the number of students in the
school. There are three cost components: the shared cost of transmission infrastructure for each region, the cost of the
reception equipment at each school (US $1,800-3,000 per school), and the cost of the classroom hardware (tablets, Smart TV,
storage unit). As an example, an elementary school with ten students in a community reachable by internet would require a
standard antenna ($1,800), a Smart TV ($400), one iPad for the teacher ($350), and four shared iPads for the students ($1,400)
– for an initial setup cost of $3,950. There would then be additional future costs for replacement of equipment as it wears out.
These costs can be lower if some of the equipment is used instead of new.

What will the kids learn?
The schools will follow the CONAFE curriculum, heavily supplemented with online materials from a variety of sources chosen
for their rich educational content and applicability to rural school education. Based on available research, we will follow global
best practices to optimize the effective use of technology in the classroom.
What devices will the students use and why?
Students will use iPads with “ultra-protective” UZBL cases. We believe iPads offer the best potential for long-term technical
growth within a closed architecture resistant to viruses. Tablets will be shared in the classroom. In our multi-grade classrooms
this will allow the teacher to work directly with small same-level cohorts while other students work independently. Each school
will have a lockable charging cart for overnight charging and overnight iPad storage. Larger classrooms will also be equipped
with a Smart TV to allow the teacher to do whole class teaching.

How will the teachers be trained on use of the internet?
We recognize the crucial role played by teachers in this project. Our implementation team includes a specialist with many years
of experience in training CONAFE teachers. Teachers will be trained in the field and also during their monthly and summer-
long sessions at CONAFE headquarters.

Who will troubleshoot technical issues?
In addition to our own in-house tech person we have engaged a consultant to provide technical
expertise in Huatulco. He will be able to check signal speeds and usage patterns remotely and make on-site modifications as
necessary. We will also monitor for issues during periodic visits to the schools and during teacher training sessions at
CONAFE.

What about schools where you can’t get the internet to the community?
We’re investigating the use of devices capable of providing off-line content in the classroom in the 10-15 % of CONAFE
schools we do not expect to be able to reach with the internet

Can you accept used iPads? What type?
YES! Our standard classroom tablet will be a 9.7” model (model 5 or 6) with the small charging port. Unfortunately we can’t
use older models with the wide charging port.

How much does the internet signal cost?
The current cost is less than $100 per month. We expect his will increase nominally when fiber optic technology and the
greater capacity it will provide becomes available.
How many towers? How does it work?
The internet signal originates at the TELMEX offices in downtown Huatulco. From there the signal travels to a transmission
tower at Instituto del Mexico, and from there to a network of repeater towers to an antenna at each school. The towers are
powered by green solar cells.

What does the signal strength allow you to do?
The initial signal will consist of six lines of 10MB each to be shared across target schools. This will allow us to provide a
streaming experience to 8-10 schools at a time. We will schedule usage across a fixed daily timetable so each school can enjoy
an optimal experience without interruption. Teachers will also be able to download content for off-line use after school
hours. We expect within the next 3-5 years fiber optic technology will become available in the Huatulco area, at which point
we will to upgrade the signal to fiber optic speeds, ending the need for signal rationing.

What are the limitations of the technology?
The technology depends on line of sight connectivity between antennae. There are communities where local topography
makes internet access impossible. We are investigating the use of offline resources in these cases. Due to high costs and
slow speed satellite internet is not a viable option.

How long will it take to finish the project?
This will be a long-terms and ongoing project. Depending on the success of our fundraising efforts we expect to complete
the transmission infrastructure by early 2021.

What has been accomplished so far?
We have completed transmission infrastructure for the first school district, San Miguel del Puerto (our Phase One coverage
area). We have launched a pilot program at the Los Olivos school which is near HUatulco

How many kids/tablets per school?
An average school has 10-18 kids, so most communities will need 5-8 iPads.
Why not a 1 to 1 program?
We have been advised that within the classroom shared iPads will be sufficient for our educational goals. We also feel it’s
important to reach as many rural schools as possible, and sharing resources will allow us to impact more children more quickly.

Why not high schoolers?
The communities we serve do not have high schools. Rural high schoolers must travel to high schools in larger, less remote
communities. With the addition of the internet we anticipate an opportunity for distance learning among students who are
unable to attend high school outside our communities.

What is the life of an iPad?
Most school tablet programs have a replacement rate of 4-5 years for new iPads. We are assuming a rate of 2-3 years for used
iPads

What are the costs to charge the iPads overnight?
The Mexican government provides electricity to rural schools at no cost to the schools.

Will the kids bring them home?
The iPads will remain in the schools under a teacher’s supervision. We expect there will be opportunities for iPads to be
borrowed on a case by case basis, and for the technologies to be employed for wider community engagement.

How will you control inappropriate content and ensure internet security for the students?
We recognize the need not only to ensure the productive use of the internet in an educational environment, but also to prevent
inappropriate web browsing and protect children from online predators. We plan to extensively train teachers as our first line
of defense to ensure appropriate usage in the classroom. We will also have software that will allow us to monitor and control
content in all schools from a central location at the Instituto Mexico offices. We have factored in network administration costs
to our financial forecasts.

What are your goals? How will you know if the program is a success?
We are developing a baseline set of metrics against which to measure our progress. These include school attendance, school
enrollment, performance on current testing measures, teacher satisfaction and teacher retention
Who will administer the program?
Foundation staff. The iPads will remain the property of the foundation so that they can be transferred among schools as
enrollment changes.

What role does the public sector play? Do you have any partners?
In addition to many generous individuals, we are being supported by:
The Phillip and Elizabeth Gross Family Foundation
CONAFE
FONATUR Huatulco
Instituto Mexico de Huatulco

Can I buy my own iPad to donate?
Yes, but we can usually get a better price with the Foundation’s bulk discount through Apple and the Foundation’s tax-free
status. Contact us for current pricing.

Do you have other ideas for how I can help?
-Ask friends and family for gently used iPads (9.7”, generation 5 or later).
-Establish a sister school relationship between your home school and one of our rural schools.
-Check in your area for school or corporate iPad recycling programs. For instance, schools which require student to own
iPads for classroom use often have a preferred donation program.
-Throw a fundraiser with the goal of raising money to support a school (we’d be happy to provide materials).

                                                    THANK YOU!
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